Brown shot into the spotlight after starring opposite Sean Connery in the 2000 film Finding Forrester. He had neither professional nor amateur acting experience prior to taking this role. Brown tried out as an extra after finding a flyer hanging on a bulletin board in his school and wound up winning the role of Jamal Wallace. In 2005, he played the role of Kenyon Stone, a basketball player for the Richmond High School Oilers in Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson. He was one of the lead roles alongside Ashanti.